diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 931a762..430cf84 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ project(i3ipc++)
 
 option(I3IPCpp_WITH_TESTS "Build unit tests executables" OFF)
 option(I3IPCpp_BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build example executables" OFF)
+option(I3IPCpp_USE_FULL_SIGNALS "Provide full JSON event object with the signals for workspace_event and window_event. !!CHANGES API!!" OFF)
 
 set(BUILD_STATIC_LIBS ON)
 set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS OFF)
@@ -13,7 +14,14 @@ UNSET(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
 find_package(PkgConfig)
 pkg_check_modules(SIGCPP REQUIRED sigc++-2.0)
 
+# configure a header file to pass some settings to the source code
+configure_file (
+  "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/i3ipc++/i3ipc++_config.hpp.in"
+  "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/include/i3ipc++_config.hpp"
+  )
+
 include_directories(
+	${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/include
 	${SIGCPP_INCLUDE_DIRS}
 	3rd/jsoncpp/include
 	3rd/auss/include
@@ -40,7 +48,8 @@ set(I3IPCpp_INCLUDE_DIRS
 set(I3IPCpp_LIBRARIES i3ipc++_static ${SIGCPP_LIBRARIES} jsoncpp_lib_static)
 
 set(I3IPCpp_LIBRARY_DIRS ${I3IPCpp_LIBRARY_DIRS} PARENT_SCOPE)
-set(I3IPCpp_INCLUDE_DIRS ${I3IPCpp_INCLUDE_DIRS} PARENT_SCOPE)
+set(I3IPCpp_INCLUDE_DIRS ${I3IPCpp_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+set(I3IPCpp_INCLUDE_DIRS ${I3IPCpp_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/include PARENT_SCOPE)
 set(I3IPCpp_LIBRARIES ${I3IPCpp_LIBRARIES} PARENT_SCOPE)
 
 if(I3IPCpp_BUILD_EXAMPLES)
diff --git a/include/i3ipc++/ipc.hpp b/include/i3ipc++/ipc.hpp
index 9ccfe80..4e25e59 100644
--- a/include/i3ipc++/ipc.hpp
+++ b/include/i3ipc++/ipc.hpp
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include <vector>
 
-#ifdef USE_FULL_SIGNALS
+#include "i3ipc++_config.hpp"
+
+#ifdef I3IPCpp_USE_FULL_SIGNALS
 #include <json/json.h>
 #endif
 
@@ -82,7 +84,7 @@ enum EventType {
 	ET_BARCONFIG_UPDATE = (1 << 4), /**< Bar config update event @attention Yet is not implemented as signal in I3Connection */
 };
 
-#ifndef USE_FULL_SIGNALS
+#ifndef I3IPCpp_USE_FULL_SIGNALS
 /**
  * Types of workspace events
  */
@@ -178,7 +180,7 @@ public:
 	sigc::signal<void>  signal_output_event; /**< Output event signal */
 	sigc::signal<void>  signal_mode_event; /**< Output mode event signal */
 	sigc::signal<void>  signal_barconfig_update_event; /**< Barconfig update event signal */
-#ifdef USE_FULL_SIGNALS
+#ifdef I3IPCpp_USE_FULL_SIGNALS
 	sigc::signal<void, const Json::Value&>  signal_workspace_event; /**< Workspace event signal */
 	sigc::signal<void, const Json::Value&>  signal_window_event; /**< Window event signal */
 #else
diff --git a/src/ipc.cpp b/src/ipc.cpp
index 10c6089..abad402 100644
--- a/src/ipc.cpp
+++ b/src/ipc.cpp
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 #include <iostream>
 
 #include <auss.hpp>
+#ifndef I3IPCpp_USE_FULL_SIGNALS
 #include <json/json.h>
+#endif
 
 #include "log.hpp"
 #include "ipc-util.hpp"
@@ -80,7 +82,7 @@ I3Connection::I3Connection(const std::string&  socket_path) : m_main_socket(i3_c
 		case ET_WORKSPACE: {
 			Json::Value  root;
 			IPC_JSON_READ(root);
-#ifdef USE_FULL_SIGNALS
+#ifdef I3IPCpp_USE_FULL_SIGNALS
 			signal_workspace_event.emit(root);
 #else
 			WorkspaceEventType  type;
@@ -114,7 +116,7 @@ I3Connection::I3Connection(const std::string&  socket_path) : m_main_socket(i3_c
 		case ET_WINDOW: {
 			Json::Value  root;
 			IPC_JSON_READ(root);
-#ifdef USE_FULL_SIGNALS
+#ifdef I3IPCpp_USE_FULL_SIGNALS
 			signal_window_event.emit(root);
 #else
 			WindowEventType  type;